Winter in Charleston

Feb 22 thru Feb 26

—Blogpost written by Bob

Friday, February 22

It was 84 degrees outside in the afternoon yesterday and we hit today's high temperature of 79 degrees at 10:30 AM in the morning--the temperature went down as today progressed.  We ran the boat's air conditioner most of the day, as well as yesterday.

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Today is National Margarita Day, paying homage to our favorite celebratory cocktail.  (The Margarita was developed in Mexico in 1938--the drink recipe is 81 years old!  Of course, there are a lot of variations on the original recipe.)  Since Maggie makes great low-carb margaritas, we celebrated last night.  However, today, we had a late lunch at Minero, a casual Mexican restaurant on East Bay Street.

Minero is located on a site that was once an
enormous Sears Roebuck & Company
store. The area was redeveloped
as the Ponce City Market.

This restaurant had several unique aspects: only the front door was on the street level--the restaurant was on the second floor, the silverware for each table was in a small drawer on each side of the table, and the tortilla chips came to the table in a fabric pocket with a Mexican design on the outside.  Even though it was a "casual" restaurant, the food was certainly upscale. 

The tortilla chips at Minero were served on
a pastry pocket with Mexican designs.

By the time we got back to the boat, the sky was overcast and it was cooler--it looked like it was going to rain. (It never did rain.)

Saturday, February 23

This morning it was overcast and much cooler than yesterday--you could even say that it was "dank."  I put the fourth (and last) coat of varnish on the window by the companionway this morning.  I had to strain the varnish before I applied it because it was thickening a little too much in the can.  I added some thinner to the last coat.  It really looks great!

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We decided to cook our lunches on board for the next two days because the weekend days are not the best to go out to eat--the restaurants are more crowded.  So, today I am making pork and sauerkraut on the stovetop.  

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I'm starting to plan our trip north already.  We will be leaving Charleston City Marina on March 31 at slack low tide (11:53 AM).  We will return to Baltimore on or about May 7.  My list of summer projects has grown substantially (to 20) while my list of haulout projects is lighter than usual.

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I just finished reading an excellent book called Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive, written by Stephanie Land.  The book started out very depressing with her struggles as a single parent in the Pacific Northwest but it ended as a very uplifting account of her attending college in Missoula, Montana.  I highly recommend this (nonfiction) book--it is very well written.  Like all the books I've read lately, this one was the Kindle edition available on Amazon.

...and that completes another relaxing day in the low country.

Sunday, February 24

The day started out overcast and foggy.  Fortunately it was warm outside--I guess that's why it was so foggy (with the warm moist air hanging above the cold seawater).  At 7:30 AM it was already 71 degrees and the wind was out of the southwest at 12 to 15 knots.  The wind was expected to clock around to the west as the day progressed.  Rain was also a prominent weather feature in the forecast for the day.  (It rained in the morning and at mid-day and then cleared up later in the afternoon.)

As I wrote the above portion of today's blogpost my
constant companion, Lola, laid on the loose
articles on my navigation station desk.

Last night, I removed the starboard wing of the dining table to start my refinishing project--I decided to do this project here in Charleston, rather that have it as a summer project.  I have never refinished the dining table--the existing finish is 36 years old and it is showing signs of wear, mostly from the sun exposure from the overhead mid-ship hatch.

One of the worn areas on the dining table.  The
deterioration of the finish seems to be
primarily from the sun exposure
thru the mid-ship hatch.

In the early afternoon, I sanded and stained the teak components of the starboard wing and the center area of the dining table.

Monday, February 25

It was cooler this morning--50 degrees at 7:30 AM.  The sun was shining brightly and a cool breeze was coming from the northwest.  The high temperature for the day was expected to reach 67 degrees.

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We ran out of propane early this morning and I had to switch tanks.  This involves removing the helm seat, opening the propane locker, and changing tank connections.  I left the empty 10-lb aluminum tank out so that we could refill it later in the day.  Later in the day, we strapped the propane tank to my bike and rode over to the U-Haul facility for the refill.

Rocket Man?

Once we got the the U-Haul facility, they wouldn't refill our aluminum propane tank because the last re-certification date (09-18) was engraved--not stamped.  They didn't understand that aluminum tanks are commonly re-certified and not every company that does it uses metal stamps on the re-certification.  So, we will wait until we have a rental car and get it refilled in nearby Mount Pleasant.  (I'm not certain whether this situation was due to ignorance or if they wanted to sell me a new propane tank.  Of course, they didn't carry aluminum propane tanks which are worth about $200 each.)

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In the afternoon, I wiped any remaining excess stain (again) and applied the first coat of varnish to the teak components of the dining table.  (I thinned the first coat of varnish so that it would soak into the wood and because it seemed to be getting a little thick in the can.)  I did the varnishing after giving the cats their afternoon treat so that they would sleep instead of getting cat hair all over my freshly varnished surfaces.

Varnish drying on starboard
wing of dining table 

It will take at least four more days of light sanding and varnishing to complete a little more than half the dining table.  (I will complete the other half while Maggie is back in Sarasota later next week.)

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Lola has escaped from the cockpit enclosure twice now--both times while I was on the boat and didn't see how she did it.  Both times, we had the side windows partially unzipped for ventilation (as shown below).  

The upper right corner of the cockpit enclosure's
side window was partially unzipped for 
ventilation (as shown above) 
when Lola escaped.

Yesterday, I saw Lola reach up (standing on her rear legs) and grab a zipper with her paw and pull it down!  I have never seen a cat with such dexterity!  I guess we now have to tie the zippers in place with a string.  Fortunately when she does go outside of the cockpit she just walks around the boat and occasionally onto the dock--her goal (as far as I can tell) is not to run away but simply explore her surroundings a little.

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Today, Maggie had her last physical therapy appointment related to the injuries suffered in her car accident of September 3 (almost seven months ago).  We have only received about half of the property damage owed to us and, in addition, we just learned that our insurance rates have increased substantially, even though we were not at fault for the accident.  Insurance is such a rip off!

Tuesday, February 26

Today started out overcast but the sun is predicted to come out and warm it up to about 67 degrees by the afternoon.  I was expecting sunshine right from the start today but I guess I was being too optimistic about the weather.

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I lightly sanded the varnished teak areas of the center of the dining table and the starboard wing, wiped them clean with lacquer thinner, and then added another coat of Epifanes gloss varnish.  I completed this task just in time to be able to ride our bikes to the Brown Dog Deli for lunch.  The Brown Dog Deli was not very busy today for some strange reason--most times, we have had to wait to be seated.

As we were leaving the Brown Dog
Deli the sun was coming out.

When we got back to the boat, I sanded off the engraved date stamp on my propane tank in preparation for stamping it with 3/8" metal stamps I ordered on eBay.  (I used to own and operate Annapolis Yacht Accessories and I regularly re-certified propane tanks when I added OPD valves--so, fortunately, I'm qualified to do this.)  This metal stamping will eliminate the occasional flack I get about the engraving when I go to refill this propane tank.

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I just got a news alert on my cell phone that Boston Market announced a recall of 173,000 pounds (yes, that's 86.5 tons!) of frozen entrees because of possible contamination (contains pieces of glass and plastic).  Wouldn't it make sense for the producer to use some type of continuous monitoring so that things like this could be picked up faster.  Also, not using breakable glass and plastic in the production line would be smart too.  It seems like recalls like this are more frequent than in years past.  Has the FDA been dumbed down like the EPA has been?

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Well, it's time to call this blogpost to a close...stay tuned for more adventures in Charleston SC!


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